Peter Tilden

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Through various style shifts and periodic musical evolution, Rick Springfield continues to weather the ever-changing musical landscape on his own terms. He seems to enjoy every bit of his adventure, at least in a musical sense, as exhibited by the sonic spirit that emanates from his every output. Obviously, the Australian singer-guitarist-songwriter does not run out of creative steam and productive ideas that he could transform into any viable musical art form he deemed befitting his personality. …

An artists like Springfield has really nothing to prove to the world anymore, or, in fact, in the first place. After all, he has been making and playing music for almost half a century now; not to mention, his other artistic endeavor which is acting is another streak on his crowning glory. Thus, for the grace of it, he really deserves the accolades and to be in the pantheon of other music greats. The Snake King is another testament of his endurance, prolificacy, and encompassing artistry. CrypticRock gives it 4 out of 5 stars.

So is this a blue album then? Well, sure, it is – in some ways. I mean, the blues is what this record album is based on but it’s not Muddy Waters, so to speak. Hell, it’s not even Jeff Healey or Stevie Ray Vaughn blues. The way I see it, this is a Rick Springfield album with blues influences waved in. Fact is, most of the melodies and arrangements sounds a lot like the Rick Springfield we’re used to – this is as much a pure blues record as Rocket Science was a country album. Sure, it’s more rootsy than what we’re used to and on many songs way more stripped but it’s very easy to recognize Springfield’s very personal way of writing pop melodies and catchy choruses. Some old fans might have to give it a few spins to get it but with an open mind I think that most will be able to embrace this album. Me, I dug it right from the off. A great mix of blues-rock and melodic rock.

It would be true to say, right at the outset, if you’re a big fan of Rick Springfield and have listened to his music down the years, The Snake Kingis quite likely not the album you’d be expecting from him. …

There is a considerable variety of shades of dark on this new album, and not too many shards of light to be found. Rick said in a recent radio interview, “I’m at the point in my life now where I just wanna record what’s truthful, which is why I made this album”. So, on The Snake King, Rick takes the listener on a journey along a dirty and dusty road into the bluesy side of his music and allows us to share his disillusion with many aspects of the modern world. …

But, overall, what’s really changed is Rick’s desire to use words to convey what he really means and feels, rather than use sugar coating, and for that alone, he deserves our gratitude.

Read the full reviews for their comments on each of the songs. Great stuff!

As is the norm right before a big CD release, RS has been on a promotional tour, which is of course fun for fans. In case you missed this week’s shows, here are the links:

In this interview he mentions that Jan. 21 marked the 38th anniversary of the first date with his wife. Awwww, so sweet.

Jonesy’s Jukebox – 95.5 KLOS radio show with Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols. This was a cool interview, which included RS and Steve Jones reminiscing about some of their musical idols and jamming together. I had a little Sex Pistols phase in high school, listening to “Nevermind the Bullocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” very loudly during times of teenage angst. The interview reminded me a little of my 30-year high school reunion in the sense that all these years later, it doesn’t really matter what group you hung out with at high school or what has happened since, it’s just a nice time chatting with people and reminiscing about that stage in your life.

During the interview, he talked about how he was influenced by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, his work with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters for the Sound City documentary and how it’s his wife’s voice saying “It’s just the normal noises in here” on the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers song, “Even the Losers” on “Damn the Torpedoes” from when she was a receptionist at Sound City.

Here’s something pretty cool that somebody mentioned on a RS Facebook fan page. Cliff Richard was interviewed in 1984 on Zikk Zakk, a television show in Norway, and here he is talking about some of his favorite American music videos. He talks about Michael Jackson, Howard Jones and Rick Springfield and he mentioned that he was a Rick Springfield fan. The clip ends with the “Human Touch” video. (Coincidentally, it was Howard Jones who opened for RS here in AZ in 2014 – when I met RS and gave him a little note about this blog during a quick meet and greet.)